Double-door construction for freight cars



April 15 1924.

E. MAYHEW DOUBLE DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed Jan. 12 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet l April 15 1924. 1,490,120

. E. A. MAYHEW DOUBLE DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed Jan. 12 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 15 1924.

E. A. MAYHEW DOUBLE noon CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT CARS s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 12. 1920 l orugys m. I u

April 15 1924. 1,490,120

E. A. MAYHEW DOUBLE DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed Jan. 12. 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 15 1924.

E. A. MAYHEW DOUBLE DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT CARS 5 Sheet S-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 12. 1920 4 all Apr. 15, 192%.

a a. memw, or cmcaeo, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR "r0 WALTER :unw voax, n. Y. 7

PTENT FHCE.

P. mmrnr, or

DQUBLE-DOOB CONSTRUCTION FOR FREIGHT .112

-Application filed January 12, 1920. Serial No. 350,823.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. MAYHEW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Double-Door Constructions for Freight Cars, of which the following is a speclfication.

My invention relates to a double door construction for railway box cars of the t pe having side door openings of more t an usual width, such, for example, as box cars used for trans orting automobiles. Cars of this sort are requently provided, in addition to the usual outside sliding door common to most box cars, with a secondary or supplemental outside sliding door ordinarily narrower than the main door, though not necessarily so, which is movable to and from the main door and may be opened or not as circumstances require. For loading ordinary freight, for example, the main door alone may be opened. When bulky articles, such as automobiles or large pieces of machinery, or the like, are to be loaded, both doors are opened so as to give a doorway of unusual width.

The present invention is concerned especially with a door construction of this general type. and a rimary object is to provide a movable e ement, of novel construction, adapted to be positioned at the meeting edges of the doors constituting, in effeet, a door jamb for the edges of the doors to bear against, but which can be moved to one side of the door opening when the supplemental door is opened.

A further object is to provide certain interlocking devices on the movable door jamb and on the door frame which operate to automatically lock the jamb in its position at the meeting edges of the door when the jamb has been moved to that position.

A further object is to provide interlocking arrangements between the movable jamb and one of the doors, preferably the supplemental door, so-called, which allows the door, if desired, to be opened without moving the jamb from its lace in the middle, approximately, of the oorway, but which, in case the Jamb has been moved to one side of the opening, prevents the supple mental door from being closed without moving the jamb with it, and automatically locks 1t in its operative position. B these arrangements a rigid bearing, firm y anchored to the car framing, is insured for the forward edges of the doors whenever the latter are closed. No careless manipulation of the movable parts of the door structure is possible which will leave either the jamb or the supplemental door unattached or in the wrong position. The jamb when moved to its middle position is stop ed and locked in that position automatical y. If the supplemental door be then closed it is auto-- matically locked to the jamb. The supplemental door can be opened without movin the jamb but the jamb cannot be moved from its middle position without moving the supplemental door with it. The supplemental door cannot be closed without moving the jamb .with it, but, if desired, the jamb may be moved into the middle position without involving a closing movement ofthe supplemental door. The practical value of these arrangements will be appreciated by those familiar with the careless way in which trainmen frequently handle frei ht cars.

T e movable jamb of my invention is in no sense a post. It is not intended to carry any vertical load. It does not wedge be tween the side plate and side sill of the car to form a part ofthe framing of the car. Such an arrangement is impractical because of the difliculty in moving the post from its middle position in the doorway especially in case the car has sagged permanently or sags temporarily under heavy lading. The movable jamb, in the construction of this invention, is provided with inclined surfaces and the door frame with corresponding surfaces, but these surfaces are not intended to engage under normal conditions.

Their function is to make the jamb more Fig. 1 but upon an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the side of the car, with the doors removed to show the construction of the movable door jamb and associated parts, the jamb being shown in full lines in its operative position at the right hand side of the figure and in dotted lines at the left hand side of the figure in the position which it assumes when moved back to one side of the door open- 1n Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1, the scale being enlarged.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 3, the locking bolt being shown in elevatlon.

Fig. 6 is a sectional plan on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view, in perspective, of the stop member on the side plate of the car to which the upper end of the movable j amb is locked when the jamb is in its operative position.

Fig. 8 is a view, in perspective, of the cap and associated parts on the upper end of the movable door jamb.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary erspective View of the upper corner of t e supplemental door showing one of the members by means of which the door is interlocked with the movable door jamb.

Fig. 10 is a sectional View on line 1010 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 11 is a view, in perspective, of the cap and associated parts on the lower end of the movable door jamb. 1

Fig. 12 is a similar view of the stop mem her to which the lower end of the movable door jamb is locked.

Fig. 13 is a sectional view on line 1313 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 14 is a sectional plan of the lower casting on the movable j amb and associated parts, when the jamb is moved to the side of the doorway.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, designates the side sheathing of a railway box car having a door opening 26. 27 and 28 are the door posts at opposite sides of the opening. 29 is the main door and 30 the supplemental door. These doors may be slidably supported in any suitable manner on the car. I have shown them as carried by a plurality of rollers 31 mounted in brackets 32 secured to the lower part of the car, the upper edges of the doors being provided with channeled guide bars 33 cooperating with the channeled guide bar 34 secured to the side plate 35 of the car with the interposition of a spacing block 36. The forward edge of the main door 29 is shown as provided with a Z-bar 37 and the meeting edge of the supplemental door 30 with a forwardly projecting strip 38, these members providin a water-proofing arrangement for the a jacent edges of the doors. The rear edges of the doors are provided with weather strips 39 adapted to cooperate with angle bars 40 on the door posts. A locking device 41 of any suitable type is provided for fastening the main door 29 to the'supplemental door 30. The construction of the doors and their weather-proofing arrangements form no part of my present invention, being the subject of my Patent Number 1,374,461, granted Apr. 12, 1921.v

The movable door jamb, which in its operative position provides a bearing for the inner or meeting edges of the doors 29 and 30, is designated 42 and consists preferably of a relatively heavy timber provided at its upper end with a cast cap piece 43 (Fig. 8) and its lower end with a ca piece 44 (Fig. 11).- These cap pieces are diasigned to engage, respectively, with a stop member 45 (Fig. 7) at the top of the doorway and with a stop member 46 at the bottom of the doorway. The upper cap 43 is provided with a air of inwardly projecting lugs 47 adapted to be guided by angle bar tracks 48 secured to a horizontally arranged timber 49 bolted to the under side of the side plate 35. The movable door jamb is formed with lugs 47 which extend over the track 48, the latter being substantially as ion as the width of the supplemental door. he stop member 45 is preferablytapered in width in the direction toward door post 28 and is formed on opposite sides with recesses 50 into which project webs 51 formed on the upper cap piece 43. The construction contemplates clearances between the projecting webs 51 on the cap piece and the surfaces defining the recesses 50 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, but in case the sagging of the car should bring the parts into contact the surfaces on the cap piece and on the stop memher which would engage under such circumstances are oblique surfaces so that their en gagement is a wedgingi engagement. This facilitates the movement of the door jamb to and from its operative position in case of sagging or other distortion of the car body tending to hinder such movement. The stop member 46 at the bottom of the doorway is formed with similar recesses 52 into which webs 53 on the lower end of the lower cap piece 44 project. Here also the construction contemplates a clearance of the parts, in order that the door 'amb may be moved freely but wedging suri aces are. provided in case displacement of the parts from their normal positions involves a take-up of ward corner of the supplemental door 30 (Fig. 9) and to engage with the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the rear vertical wall 59 of said locking casting. The lower cap piece 44 is similarly provided with a pair of lugs 60,61 adapted to engage in a similar way, a casting 62 at the lower orward corner of the supplemental door. These engagements permit the supplemental door to be opened without movement of the door jamb from its position in the middle of the doorway'and they permit the jamb to be moved from its position at the side of the doorway to the middle position without closing the supplemental door. But they necessitate the movement of the door jam to its 0 erative position when the supplemental door is closed and ermit the amb to be moved from its operatlveposition only when the supplemental door is'opened.

The upper stop member 45 is provided with a nose 63 which is notched at 64 and formed on one side with a cam surface 65. A bell crank locking dog 66 is mounted by a pivot 67 on the cap piece 43, one arm 68 of which bell crank is adapted to fit into the notch 64 when the movable door jamb reaches its operative position. In order that the operation of this locking device should be automatic, the upstanding arm 68 of the bell crank is formed with a beveled surface 69 which engages with the beveled surface on the nose piece 63 so as to rock the bell crank. The other arm 70 of the bell crank has a push rod 71 attached there to for rocking the bell crank in a direction to release arm 68 from the notch 64.

Arran ed in a recess 72 in the up er cap piece 43 1s a bolt 73 the outer end-o which slides on a rib 74 formed on the cap piece and the inner end of which is formed with an eye 75 through which projects astud 76 fdrmed on the arm. 68 of the bell crank. The bolt 73 is adapted to engage with the opening or recess 77 in the locking casting 58 on the upper forward corner of the supplemental door. The bolt is beveled on one side, as shown at 78. This bevel is adapted to engage with the inclined lip 79 formed on ,the casting 58 so that when the supplemental door is moved over thedoor jamb in closing the operation of locking the door to the jamb will be automatic.

A locking device is provided for locking the lower end of the door jamh to the floor of'the car and this device might'be connected to the upiper look so as to be 0 erable therewith. erably, however, the ocking device at the floor is made separate from the upper locking mechanism so that when it is desired to open the supplemental door without moving the jamb the latter will be held by the lower lockin device, while the upper locking device is re eased incidentally to the reaction of bolt 73 by which the supplemental door is locked to the jamb.

The lower locking device consists of a dog 80 mounted on a pivot 81 on the lower cap piece 44 and provided with an extension 82 whereby the dog may be rocked by the operators foot. The dog is adapted to engage with a notch 83 formed in a nose piece 84 projecting from the lower stop casting 46. The dog has a beveled surface 85 adapted to engage the beveled surface 86 when the jamb is moved to its osition in the middle of the doorway. Tiis engagement rocks the dog, making the locking operation thereof automatic. The jamb and supplemental door maybe moved together to the open position of the door by the operator pushing up on rod 71, depressing dog 80 with his foot and then moving the jamb which will carry the door with it because of theengagement of lugs 54 and 55 with the locking casting 58 and lugs 60 and 61 with the locking casting 62. In Figs.3 and 14 I have shown a casting 87 on the floor of the car near the door 0st 28, which the bifurcated portion of the ower cap casting 44 is adapted to straddle when the movable door jamb is moved to one side of the door opening. This casting prevents the jamb from swinging or lateral displacement due to the movement of the cargo through the doorway. This casting has beveled surfaces 88 and 89 against which the 'dog 80 is thrust for rocking same when the jamb is moved back and forth. The engagement between surfaces 85 and 89, tends to hold the jamb from accidental movement away from post 28, but not against a positive thrust when it is desired to move the jamb, with or without the door, to the position in the middle of the doorway.

Summary of operation.-The movable jamb 42 provides a bearing for the meeting edges of themain door 29 and the sup lemental door 30. When the main door al dne is opened the jamb forms a protection for the supplemental door, preventing the inner edge of such door from being injured by movement of the lading through the door opening. In some cases both doors will be open without, however, moving the jamb from its position in the middle (approximately) of the doorway. To release the supplemental door from the jamb, in order to open the door. the .operator pushes up on rod 71, rocking the bell crank- 70 and so withdrawing the bolt 73 from the .lock casting 58. The rocking of the bell crank 70 releases this member, which provides the means for locking the upper end of the jamb to the door frame, from its engagement with the stop casting 45 on the door frame, but the jamb is still held in position by the locking device 80 on the bottom cap piece 44 which remains in enga ement with the lower stop member 46. or loading large articles of freight the jamb may be moved from its middle position to a place at one side of the doorway, the latter position being indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The jamb is released by the operator pushing up on rod 71 at the same time rocking the locking dog 80 by pressing his foot upon the foot piece 82 thereon. When the doors are to be closed it will not be possible to move the supplemental door forwardly without carrying with it the door jamb. As soon as the door jamb reaches its operative position ir. the doorway it is automatically ocked to the upper and lower stop members. It is not possible to move the door jamb away from its operative osition without carrying the small door with it. If the supplemental door is opened without moving the movable door jamb the subsequent closing of the supplemental door involves automatically locking the same to the jamb. By these arrangements at suitable bearing is always insured for the meeting edges of the doors, and for the supplemental doorwhen it is closed and the main door opened without dependence upon the carefulness of those who ma have occasion to manipulate the door. Nb has to be taken either in the proper positioning of the movable jamb nor in the locking of the same to the door frame, nor in the locking of the supplemental door to the jamb.

When the movable door jamb is pushed to its position at the side of the doorway casting 87 holds it from lateral movement. The dog 80 will rock because of the bevel of surfaces 85 and 89, to permit'disengagement of the jamb from the casting when the jamb is moved back to its operative position in the doorway.

The term box car as used in the specification and claims is intended to cover broadly any of the types of railway cars known generally as box or house cars.

This application is a continuation in art of my application Serial No. 192,888, led September 24, 1917.

I claim:

1. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors slidably supported to move over said opening, the inner edges of which are adapted to hear one against the other, a door jamb supported to be slidable independently of, in parallelism with and back of said doors, means for retaining said jamb in a fixed position at the meeting edges of the doors, means for a channel to receive the e care aaeosao locking one of said doors to said jamb, and means on said door formin with said jamb dge of the other door.

2. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors slidably supported to move over said opening, the inner edges of which are adapted to bear one against the other, a door jamb supported to be slidable independently of, in parallelism with and back of said doors, means for retaining said jamb ,in a fixed position at the meeting edges of the doors,

means for locking one of said doors to said jamb, and a forwardly and outwardly projecting lip on the edge of said door adapted to overlap the edge of the other door.

3. In combination with a railway box car having a door openin a pair of doors supported tomove to an from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said door opening. coengaging wedge members on the jamb and door frame for positioning said jamb inter mediate the sides of the door opening, engaging means on one of said doors and on the jamb whereby the closing of said door moves the jamb to said intermediate position, and means. for automatically locking the jamb in such position when moved thereto.

4. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said door openin means for positioning said jamb interme iate the sides of the door opening, engaging means on one of said doors and on the jamb whereby the closing of said door moves the jamb to said intermediate position, means for automatically locking the jamb in such position when moved thereto, means for automatically locking the door to said jamb when.the door is moved to close the same across the jamb, and means comprising a single operating member for releasing both said locking means.

5. In combination with a. railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said door opening, means for positioning said jamb intermediate the sides of the door opening, engagingmeans on one of said doors and on the jamb whereby the closing ofsaid door moves the jamb to said intermediate position, means for antomatically locking the jamb in such position when moved thereto, means for automatically locking the door to said jamb when the door is moved to close the same across thejamb, means comprising a single operating member for releasing both said locking means, and an additional locking device for engaging the jamb to the car body in its said intermediate position which is releasable independently of the release of the aforesaid locking means.

6. In combination with a railway box car I having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said door opening, means for positioning said jamb intermediate the sides of the door opening, means for automatically locking the jamb in said position when moved thereto, means for automatically lockin one of said doors to said jamb when said oor is closed, and means comprising a single operating element for releasing the aforesaid locking means.

7. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jambmovable back and forth in said door opening, means for positioning said jamb intermediate the sides of the door opening, means for automatically ldcking the jamb in said position when moved thereto, means for automatically locking one of said doors to said jambwhen said door is closed, means comprising a single operating element for releasing the aforesaid locking means, and an additional locking device between the jamb and car body releasable independently of the release of the aforesaid locking means.

8. In combination with a railway box car ha'ving a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said opening, a stop member on the under side of the upper member of the door frame,,a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, one of said last mentioned two elements being provided with a gravity locking dog and the other with a recess to receive said dog and with a cam adjacent thereto to rock the dog. I

9. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth insaid opening, a stop mem-' ber on the under side of the upper member of the door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, and a pivotal locking dog on the cap piece which is rocked by said cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position.

10. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other acrosssaid opening, a door jamb movable back and forthin said opening, a stop memher on the under side of the upper member of the door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal locking dog on the cap piece which is rocked by said cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, and a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to engage said locking plate.

1 1. In combination with'a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said opening, a stop member on the under side of the upper member of the door a frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal locking dog on the cap piece which is rocked by sai cam and drops into. said recess when the j amb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, and a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to engage said locking plate, said locking dog and bolt being engaged so that they are moved simultaneously.

12. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said openin a door jamb movable back and forth in sai o ning, a stop member on the under side of t e upper member of the door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed'with a recess and a,

cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal lockin dog on the cap piece which. is rocked by sai cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to engage said locking plate, said locking dog and bolt being engaged so that they are moved simultaneously, and a single operating element for releasing said dog and bolt.

13. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said 0 ening, a stop member on the under side of t e upper member of the door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal lockin dog on the cap piece which is rocked by sai cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, and a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to en- I simultaneously, said bolt having a beveled end whereby the door may be closedover the jamb but is held from backward movement therefrom.

14. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said openin a door j amb movable back and forth in sai opening, a stop member on the under side of the upper member of the door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed'with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal lockin dog on the cap piece which isrocked by sai cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to en age said locking plate, said locking dog and olt being engaged so that they are moved simul taneously, a single operating element for releasing said dog and bolt, a stop member at the bottom of the door opening opposite the aforesaid stop member, a cap piece on the lower end of the jamb adapted to cooperate therewith, and a locking device automatically operated to lock the lower end of the jamb to the car body.

15. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said opening, a stop member-on the under side of the upper member of the door frame, a cappiece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal lockin dog on the cap piece which is rocked by sai cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to engage said locking plate, said locking dog and bolt being engaged so that they are moved simultaneously, a single operating element for releasing said dog and bolt, a stop member at the bottom of the door opening opposite the aforesaid stop member, a cap piece on the lower end of the'jamb adapted to cooperate therewith, and a locking device automaticall operated to lock the lower end of the jaml) to the car body which has a foot piece for releasing it.

16. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors supported to move to and from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable aeoaac back and forth in said 0 ning, a stop member on the under side 0 the upper member of the, door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal looking dog on the cap iece which 15 rocked by said cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking plate on one of said doors, a bolt associated with the jamb adapted to engage said locking plate, said locking dog and bolt being engaged so that they are moved simultaneously, a single operating element for releasing said dog and bolt, a stop member at the bottom of the door opening opposite the aforesaid stop member, a cap plece on the lower end of thejamb adapted to cooperate therewith, a ivoted locking device on the bottom cap piece, the bottom stop member being formed with a recess to receive said locking device, and a cam to rock the same.

17. In combination with a railway box car'having a door openin a pair of doors supported to move to an from each other across said opening, a door jamb movable back and forth in said 0 ening, a stop memher on the under side 0 the upper member of the door frame, a cap piece on the upper end of the jamb to engage said stop member, the stop member being formed with a recess and a cam adjacent the recess, a pivotal locking dog on the cap piece which 1s rocked by said cam and drops into said recess when the jamb is moved to an intermediate position, a locking late on one of said doors engaging said amb so that the movement forwardly of the door moves the jamb and the movement backwardly of the 'amb moves the door, and a bolt associated wlth the jamb adapted to engage said lock plate.

18. In combination with a railway box car having a door opening, a pair of doors slidably supported to move over said opening, a

door jamb slidable in said door opening and provided with a cap piece at its lower end having a slot on the bottom thereof, and a retaining member on the floor of the car near one side of the door opening which is engaged by the slotted portion of said cap piece when the jamb is moved to the side of the door opening for holding said jamb against lateral swingin movement, the ca piece bein provided with a pivoted lockin dog and the retaining member formed wit bevelled surfaces adapted to be en aged by the dog, when the jamb is moved back and forth to rock the dog.

EDWARD A. MAYHEW. 

